Abstract
Placobdelloides siamensis is a glossiphoniid leech with a short life cycle. In a laboratory setting, ten mature P. siamensis left their host (a turtle) after feeding for approximately three days and initiated copulation. The adults spent 3–4 days gestating before depositing eggs (272.8±62.9 eggs/clutch; range: 186–359 eggs/clutch). The eggs then changed from a creamy white to a creamy brownish color before hatching. Hatching occurred after incubation on the parent's ventral surface for 5–7 days. The transparent brood, with a single pair of red eyes, spent a couple of weeks under the venters of their parents. After this period, they left their parents and grew to maturity in 10–15 days; leeches were considered mature when their color was similar to that of their parents and they performed their first copulation. In addition, the mature leeches survived for 163 days on one feeding.
Highlights
Glossiphoniid leeches have been favored over European medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis Linnaeus, 1758) [1] for the study of animal development [2,3,4]
On the third day (27 July 2019), after the ten Placobdelloides siamensis individuals had fed on the snail-eating turtle, with blood filling their crop ceca, repeated copulations were observed at the bottom of the container for several hours
After the last copulation, each P. siamensis moved toward the substrate near the oxygen pump, where they attached and remained motionless
Summary
Glossiphoniid leeches have been favored over European medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis Linnaeus, 1758) [1] for the study of animal development [2,3,4]. Glossiphoniid leeches are bred in laboratory conditions and exhibit parental care behavior, which is probably de novo in this family [5,6]. During their reproductive activities, individuals seize a partner with their anterior portions and the two leeches exchange pseudospermatophores, which appear to release spermatozoa on the surface of their bodies. The parent usually covers the cocoons under its body for protection and provision of food for the developing larvae [7]. According to Kutschera and Wirtz (2001) [8], the Glossiphoniidae family can be divided into three subfamilies based on cocoon attachments: Glossiphoniinae (i.e. Glossiphonia complanata Linnaeus, 1758 [1]) attach cocoons to substrates, Haementeriinae (i.e. Helobdella stagnalis Linnaeus, 1758 [1] and Helobdella triserialis Blanchard, 1849 [9]) attach cocoons directly to the venter of the parent, and monogeneric Theromyzinae (a unique genus, i.e. Theromyzon tessulatum Muller, 1774 [10]) show a mixture of these characters [8,11,12]
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